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Aimed at turning Delhi into a smart city, India’s Union Ministry of Power has launched a pilot project to convert the street-lighting from a conventional system to an energy-efficient and environment-friendly LED type. With the project, helmed by the Union Ministry of Power, the government aims to save about 250 million units of electricity and £71 million (Rs 700 crore).

The pilot system was launched by Union Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu and Union Power, Coal and New and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goel in Naraina Vihar area in north Delhi. The LED streetlighting system being energy efficient will be extended to the whole of Delhi where there are nearly 500,000 streetlight points.

“It would be further extended to the whole of country and especially in the areas where there is no light and where the poor are living,” Goel said.

The project for Delhi would be launched in phases, and after starting the project for North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC), it would be extended to the rest of the civic bodies in the capital. Beside, NDMC, the capital falls under South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), New Delhi Municipal Council and the Cantonment Board, for the Delhi Cantonment area. The NDMC will not have pay for the project, as the whole expenditure will be borne by the Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a joint venture company of the PSUs under the Ministry of Power.

“Delhi would be a model city in energy conservation. We would save about 25 crore (250 million) units of electricity. Thus, we would be saving approximately 40 per cent of expenditure on energy as well would be saving the energy consumption for the same purpose,” Goel said.

Naidu said the conversion of conventional type system of streetlight into LED lighting is a step towards developing Delhi into a smart city.

“We would save around Rs 700 crore (£71 million) on energy consumption by conversion of the system. Smart city should have 24×7 electricity, water, transport, education, solid waste management and sanitation like services. And for the smart city, we need smart leadership, accountability and transparency, he said, adding, the public private partnership (PPP) is the best alternate for development and progress into smart cities.

Goel further said that the Centre has introduced an electricity bill in Lok Sabha, and after passing of the bill, the consumers would be able to switch power suppliers.

He said the government would fix the upper limit on the rates, and the companies would offer competitive rates out of competition. Thus, the actual beneficiary would be the consumer. The maximum advantage would be in metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai, Goel said.